Mitch Ryder - Detroit Ain't Dead Yet

by Lisa Torem

published: 7 / 1 / 2010

Label: Freeworld Records
Format: CD

Often exceptional, yet thematically confusing album from blistering 60's garage rocker, Mitch Ryder

Review

William Levese Jr., alias Mitch Ryder, whose name was confiscated from a telephone book, and who hailed from the musical mecca Detroit, may be best remembered for the 1966 hit song, ‘Devil with A Blue Dress On’ which hit number four on the U.S. charts. Sung with his legendary group the Detroit Wheels, the tune featured ferocious energy created by a thunderous rhythm section, blistering bassline and this rocker’s rough-hewn, scratchy voice. 1965 had already set Ryder’s place at the Motown table and at the throne of rock’’n’roll, after the ‘Wheels’ charted with Chuck Willis’‘C.C.Rider'. ‘Detroit Ain’t Dead Yet (The Promise)’ features 12 vehicles that turbo-charge Ryder’s tubes. The openers, ‘Back Then’ and ‘The Promise’ rely a bit too much on cliché – pandering to the omnipotent “momma” so rampant in blues-rock. But, ‘One Hair’ picks up speed with a Wilson Pickett rickety tension. ‘Crazy Beautiful’ is a pianofied ballad, courtesy of musician Pat Leonard, sandwiched midway between tunes heavy on six-string seasonings. Ryder’s softer side accentuates – he delivers a message that is crisp and soulful. Some unpredictable melodic dips keep the interest from flailing. The spasmodic rhythms of ‘Let’s Keep Dancing’ become an amusing backdrop for a Bowie-like vocal inflection. Then, ‘If My Baby Don’t Stop Crying’ shifts into the precarious salt-licks of rockabilly. This is followed by ‘Get Real’ - a sonar exorcism. Ryder’s voice zig-zags against guitar work which is more virtuosic than in previous tracks. ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?’ was recorded live and written by William Weatherspoon. Despite being a much-covered ballad, it provides an excellent structural base for Ryder’s expertly executed phrases and emotional outpourings. At the song’s onset, he dedicates it to a friend who no longer performs. I’m not sure who the friend is, but the tribute is immensely satisfying. ‘Junkie Love’ is just plain weird. The antiphony is a good textural addition, but the relationship between his disapproval of drugs and the hint of a romantic relationship are unclear. The closer ‘The Way We Were’ is an ambitious attempt to perhaps qualify America’s cultural identify. “I’ve had too much freedom with these chains around my feet” provides the charred edges and the mid-section includes references to; Saudi Arabia, the Golden Fleece, Obama, Dorothy of Kansas, set against a whining wah-wah. Overall, the album provides some exceptional moments which serve to highlight Ryder’s natural vocal abilities, but the thematic focus is a little mystifying.

Track Listing:-

1 Back Then
2 The Promise
3 One Hair
4 Everybody Looses
5 My Heart Belongs To Me
6 Crazy Beautiful
7 Lets Keep Dancing
8 If My Baby Dont Stop Cryin
9 Get Real
10 What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
11 Junkie Love
12 The Way We Were